The device for dispensing multi-fold paper towels provided by the invention includes a housing for holding a generally vertical stack of the paper towels and a lower portion through which individual towels are dispensed from the stack. The lower portion preferably includes a front wall, rear wall, opposed side walls and a bottom wall. The paper towels are dispensed through an elongated opening in the bottom wall through which a fold of the bottommost towel in the stack can extend and be disposed in a position where a user can grab the fold and pull the bottommost towel from the stack. The present invention provides one or more elements for improved towel dispensing. Specifically, the device can include a plurality of laterally spaced ramps or ribs located in the vicinity of one edge of the opening. These ribs have an inclined surface extending upwardly and preferably at an angle from that edge and are adapted to be engaged by and support one side portion of the towels with the other side portion supported adjacent to an opposite wall of the bottom portion. These ribs transfer a portion of the pressure applied on the bottommost towel from the side portion supported on the ribs toward the other side portion, thereby reducing the force required to pull the bottommost towel from the stack. The present invention can also or instead employ ribs arranged at a varying angle along the stack of towels. Some preferred embodiments of the present invention employ pads located on either end of the opening to transfer a portion of the pressure applied on the bottommost towel from the end portions supported on the pads toward the opening, thereby reducing the force required to pull the bottommost towel from the stack. The lower portion of the device or internal walls therein can also or instead be angled, bent, curved, or otherwise misaligned with respect to the remainder of the device in order to shift the stack weight to the rear of the cabinet, thereby resulting in desirable force distribution for towel dispense. The various embodiments of the present invention employ one or more of the above-described features and elements for significantly improved product dispensing characteristics.
In some highly preferred embodiments of the present invention, further advantages result from one edge of the opening preferably being generally U-shaped and the other edge preferably being configured to cause the fold of the towel extending through the opening to assume a C-like shape.